Emin Araftpoor

Cancer is heterogenous, and therein lays a large part of the challenge in treating it. The coexistence of several cancer cell subtypes and cellular states aids with the adaptation and survival of cancer cells upon treatment, thus promoting the emergence of treatment-resistant relapse. To prevent this from occurring, it is essential to map and understand this heterogeneity and its underlaying mechanisms. As such, this calls for the use of single-cell technologies. Because proteins largely determine the phenotype of cells, we elect to study this heterogeneity at the protein level by mass spectrometry-based single-cell proteomics (SCP). Therefore, allowing for the direct measurement of the abundances of drug targets or proteins otherwise involved in oncogenic pathways, rather than inferring their activities from measurements at the transcript level: An approach which would miss any further mechanisms of regulation downstream from transcription including translational control and protein degradation. Therein, SCP has the potential to identify differential features which are directly related to and explanatory of the phenotype. In order to make SCP available as a research tool for, among others, cancer research, the Gevaert lab focus on refining and implementing SCP sample preparation and data analysis workflows. Within the context of my PhD research, we will apply SCP to study cellular heterogeneity in minimal residual disease in melanoma patient-derived xenograft models in collaboration with the Marine lab at the VIB-KU Leuven Center for Cancer Biology.
 

• UGent Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Biotechnology –2021
• UGent Master of Science in Biochemistry and Biotechnology –2023
• UGent PhD student – 01/09/2023 - 31/10/2024
• FWO PhD fellow – 01/11/2024 - Present
   

• Lab address: Gevaert lab, VIB-UGent Center for Medical Biotechnology, Technologiepark-Zwijnaarde 75, Building FSVMII, 9052 Zwijnaarde
• Gevaert Lab
• LinkedIn
• ORCID
• Emin Araftpoor can provide low-input and single-cell proteomics workflows (available via collaborative projects)
• Emin Araftpoor is interested to receive invitations for presentations or talks